Nowadays, a vast majority of telephones include a speakerphone which allows for hands-free use of the telephone. When the speakerphone is activated, e.g., by pressing a button on the telephone, a user can talk and listen over the telephone line so long as the user remains within the reception or talking range of a microphone associated with the telephone and within the listening range of the speakerphone. If the user moves out of the reception range, although they can speak, the other party to the call will not be able to hear the user. Similarly, if the user moves out of the listening range, the user will not be able to hear the other party to the call.
If the user then walks into a room with a similar telephone equipped with a speakerphone and microphone, the user will have to press a button on this telephone in order to join the call. Thus, as the user walks around a home or office having multiple telephones, the user will have to individually activate each speakerphone in order to enable its use.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a speakerphone control technique for use with multiple telephones having speakerphones which allows a user to walk through a home or office while conducting a telephonic conversation with another party without having to individually activate each and every speakerphone in the home or office.
Emergency call systems are known in which a person in distress can get immediate help. Specifically, in such systems, the person presses a button on a remote emergency pendant which transmits a signal to an alarm in the person's house. The alarm then sends a signal to a central station, and a person at the central station must then dial the telephone numbers from a prescribed list in order to obtain aid for the distressed person.
However, such an arrangement is relatively complicated and costly. Specifically, such an arrangement operates in a similar manner to a central burglar or fire alarm in a house, and requires a separate, complicated wiring assembly for the house, at a considerable cost. Also, such a system requires that a central station be provided, and therefore, the subscriber to such a system must pay a monthly fee for such service, adding further to the cost of the system.
Also, a problem with known systems is that if a central station, upon calling a telephone number for aid, continuously receives a busy signal, the central station may stop calling after a number of attempts, so that the person in distress does not receive aid.
Emergency call systems have therefore been invented which are connected to the telephone line and enable a caller to automatically call a plurality of other parties to leave an emergency message, sometimes, simply by pressing a button.
Examples of such emergency call systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,212,260 and 6,614,883, incorporated by reference herein, wherein the emergency call systems include an emergency call unit having a memory for storing telephone numbers to be called and an emergency message, an emergency key, and a microprocessor for controlling, among other things, storage of the telephone numbers and emergency message in the memory, dialing of the telephone numbers in sequence upon activation of the emergency key, and transmission of the emergency message to the dialed telephone number to automatically advise of an emergency.
Such emergency call systems can also be equipped to enable the user in need of assistance to talk to the called party via a speakerphone on the emergency call unit.
If an emergency call system includes both a remote emergency pendant and an emergency call unit, when faced with an emergency situation, the user can depress a button on the emergency call unit or a button on the pendant to summon help so that the emergency call unit will automatically connect to the telephone line and dial a predetermined set of telephone numbers. There are thus two different ways to summon assistance, depending on the user's proximity to the emergency call unit, i.e., if the user is far from the emergency call unit, they can press the button on the pendant while if they are close, they can press the button on the emergency call unit. In at least the latter case, the speakerphone will automatically be activated to allow the user in the emergency situation to converse, if possible, with a called party via the speakerphone. However, note that use of the speakerphone is only possible when the person in the emergency situation is in the same room or in the general vicinity of the emergency dialer.
By contrast, the emergency pendant can transmit an emergency request from distances of over 100 feet. So while aid can be summoned from a greater distance using the remote emergency pendant, the person summoning help will not be able to converse with a called party from such a distance. Further if an extension telephone is off-hook, the emergency call unit will not be able to place any emergency calls since it cannot gain control of the telephone line.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an emergency call unit which overcomes the deficiencies described above in that it allows an emergency speakerphone dialer system to be configured to permit communication between the called party and the person placing the emergency call, and allow emergency calls to be placed even when an extension telephone is off-hook.